Education is the means by which society makes progress towards a better standard of living. As such, my role as a teacher is bilateral. First, it is my job to facilitate cognitive growth in my students so that they may come to realize their full potential. Second, I must inspire my students to a point where they re self-motivated enough to act on their potential. These qualities serve also as the goals that I have for each of my students, and I believe that every student is capable of reaching these goals—provided that I utilize my resources (knowledge, skills, experience, etc.) effectively.
Concerning the effectiveness of teachers, it is the level of dedication to student learning that underlies all other qualities and competencies. No amount of pedagogical skills, content knowledge, or amicable personality traits can compensate for a lack of commitment to the students as individuals, yet a teacher who is sincerely dedicated to student learning will, of their own motivation, strive to utilize the full potential of their own resources.
Framework My framework focuses on the process of thinking, with the fundamental view that thinking and learning how to think more efficiently serve as the foundation of all education. I split this foundation in half to reflect the activities of the student and teacher. This divide is NOT intended to separate teachers students in the process of learning, but simply to distinguish responsibilities and roles in education. In fact, the center section "THINK" should be filled with many connections between the top and bottom subsections, indicating how teachers and students interact to promote meaningful cognitive development. For each of these sides I have delegated the two most integral responsibilities for each respectively. Educational tools including strategies, theories, materials, etc should fall in either or both of the teacher subsections, while student activity such as target goals, motivation, and thinking strategies should (theoretically) fall in either or both of the top subsections.
Educational Constructs
The following terms include theories, practices, strategies, and concepts of education that fit within my educational framework. Click on the title for a graphic depiction of the construct (opens a new window). Types of Thinking (literal, interpretive, creative): SHADE The three types of thinking (literal, interpretive, creative) shade the overlap of THINK, LEARNING SKILLS, and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE portion of my framework. As these traits involve the actual thinking process, they affect each aspect of the learner’s cognitive development, acting as information gateways.
Intellectual Stamina (attention control, power thinking, responsibility framework, goal setting): PATH / SHADE Intellectual Stamina is located within the LEARNING SKILLS portion of my framework because the subcategories of this concept are in and of themselves skills that help students learn. These skills must be identified and consciously employed in order for them to function, so it starts as a path from INSTRUCTION to LEARNING SKILLS, where it then changes into a shade between LEARNING SKILLS and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE.
Assimilation/Accommodation: SHADE Piaget’s theory of Adaptation posits that learners assimilate new information into existing schemes, or they accommodate by changing their existing schemes to fit new data. These two features of cognitive development fit within the overlap of THINK and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE, where they function as active processes by which learners categorize information.
Quantitative/Qualitative Research: PATH The roles of qualitative research (case studies, ethnography, participant observation) and quantitative research (correlation studies, experimental studies, etc.) in education are of a unique and critical nature. While the validity and relevance of each method are hotly debated, they are found to be equals within my framework, as they follow the same path. Educational research, whether qualitative or quantitative in nature, serve to analyze cognitive development by studying the developmental process. Therefore, the path starts in the LEARNING SKILLS portion, moves through the PLANNING portion, then through the INSTRUCTION portion and finally back to where it started.
Brain Research: PATH Brain research, which focuses on studying the physiological features of the brain and their implications on cognitive development, follows the same path as most other educational research in my framework. This specific type of research begins in the THINK portion, just outside the LEARNING SKILLS border, and travels into the PLANNING portion. Here, the research is analyzed and “turned” into theories, which affect INSTRUCTION and finally LEARNING SKILLS and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE.
Triune Brain Theory (Reptilian Complex/Limbic System/Neocortex): SHADE The Triune Brain Theory attempts to describe how the brain functions in a multilayered system of operations, and as such it exists as a shade in my framework, with the three layers affecting different portions. The Reptilian Complex, as base-level operation of thought, occupies the THINK portion, outside from tangible learning. The Limbic System and Neocortex do in fact permeate the boundaries of cognitive development, and as such they shade both the portions of LEARNING SKILLS and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE.
Piaget’s Stages of Development: SHADE Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development outline various skill sets that age-level children are commonly capable of attaining. Because this categorical theory applies specifically to the development in cognitive abilities, this appears as a shade within the LEARNING SKILLS/THINK portion. One might think that the progressive nature of the stages would warrant a path, but it is important to remember that skills acquired in a prior stage are maintained throughout the development process, thus a shade. If it helps, the shade may be thought of as expanding from a smaller focal point within the LEARNING SKILLS/THINK portion that grows to occupy the entire portion.
Vygotsky’s ZPD: SHADE The Zone of Proximal (Potential) Development is quite pervasive as it applies to my framework. Aspects of planning, instruction, learning skills, and content knowledge all function within this theory, leading me to depict it as a shade. Although there are many processes at work within this construct, I feel that the nature of the “zone” is more weighty. Therefore, I fit the ZPD as a shade that penetrates deep within the learner’s portions—to the very edge of their capabilities, as well into the educator’s end—reflecting the strategies and planning that is behind effective ZPD instruction.
Socially Constructed Meaning: REFORMATION / SHADE So far all of the concepts have dealt with the individual learner or the relationship between the learner and the educator. This concept brings into play a third player in the learning process: student partners/groups. This type of learning requires an expanded view of my framework. If we think of my original framework as that of a single learner, then the graphic depiction of socially constructed meaning would be a coupling of two or more of these icons at the learner ends. And since socially constructed meaning involves mutual creation of a ZPD, the ZPD shade from above would be applied in such a manner that it encompassed all learners involved.
Scaffolding: PATH Scaffolding is defined simply as support for learning and problem solving. Often integrated into other concepts such as the ZPD and Bloom’s Taxonomy, this model of teacher assistance covers a wide range of supports that serve to increase independence in a learner. These supports can be verbal cues, critical questions, models, or any sort of direct interaction in which the teacher assists a student in progressing to the next level of ability. Scaffolding can also take place in planning, wherein a lesson addresses key activities and skills that help students achieve the learning objectives. The key to implementing appropriate scaffolding is recognizing what level a student is at and determining what kind of support he or she needs to progress. Since this represents a process of student achievement and teacher responsiveness, this concept is illustrated as a path. And since the process is cyclical (ability informs planning and instruction, which affects ability), the path continues through all four sections of the framework (I start it in CONTENT KNOWLEDGE because that's usually what initiates the process).
New American Lecture: SHADE This describes a learning strategy in which students fill out a graphic organizer during the lecture. The benefits to this approach are twofold. First, this manner of writing down information in a personal way allows students to actively create meaning from the input provided by the teacher. Instead of copying down notes verbatim, students are free to transcribe concepts in a manner that makes sense to them. Second, the simultaneous act of writing while listening keeps learners involved in the lecture, rather than tuning out or relying on handout memorization. As a learning strategy, this concept involves both function and process. It functions within both subsections of the teacher roles, PLANNING and INSTRUCTION, as a method of instruction. It also functions within both student roles, LEARNING SKILLS and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE, as a learning strategy. The process, however, merely involves the transfer of information, so for the purposes of this model, I leave out the path that would indicate this transfer.
Memory Flashing: SHADE Closely tied with the New American Lecture, this learning strategy also involves the creation of a graphic organizer. After the organizer is created, the student is responsible for 1) explaining it to a fellow student, and 2) recreating it without referring to it. The process is repeated using the 1-1-1-1 method (after one hour, one day, one week, and one month). This strategy has been shown to promote long-term memory and understanding of information. As a learning strategy, this concept manifests a shade on my framework between LEARNING SKILLS and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE, as it affects both subsections of student learning.
Task Analysis: PATH Task Analysis describes a teaching process in which a skill is broken down into sub-skills, or steps that are hierarchal in order of attaining the overall skill (also known as successive approximations). This is especially effective with students who struggle with individual skills or concepts, and theoretically speaking it forms the basic structure of education. Grade levels, for instance, are hierarchal steps in the process of achieving a high school diploma. Its most common application, however, is contained within the classroom. As this process begins with the breaking down of some academic concept or behavioral skill, the path begins in the PLANNING section (not to be confused with shaping, which begins with the behavior: see Shaping). From there it proceeds through INSTRUCTION to LEARNING SKILLS and finally ends with achievement of the skill in the CONTENT KNOWLEDGE section (In the case of a behavioral skill, content is taken to be considered as the desired behavior).
Theories of Intelligence: SHADE Intelligence theories such as those of Charles Spearman (general intelligence g), John Carroll (three-level intelligence), and Howard Gardner (multiple intelligences), to name a few, offer many insights and advantages to the teaching process. With these theories, teachers can expand their perspectives on what defines knowledge, skills, and abilities, and can adjust their instruction accordingly. However, since the theories themselves only apply to individual cognitive processes, the graphic depiction in my framework is limited to the student end. Here the theories shade in the small portion that involves THINK, LEARNING SKILLS, and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE, since many of the theories include all three aspects of learner cognition.
Theories of Learning Styles / Preferences: SHADE / PATH Taking into account the various strategies for instruction that populate educational resource texts, there seem to exist even more theories of learning styles and preferences than theories of intelligences. These theories outline the various ways and conditions under which a learner learns best (styles referring to the way a learner thinks, preferences taken to mean the way a learner likes to be taught). The styles can be split into categories of cognitive-centered, personality-centered, activity-centered, all of which take into account a different affect of learning. Preferences are conveniently categorized into three types by Zhang and Sternberg (2005): Type I, which describes learners who enjoy a liberal approach to learning, Type II, describing those who like rigidity and structure, and Type III, who pick and choose from both of the former. These styles and preferences are learner qualities and as such they shade my framework in the learner sections of LEARNING SKILLS (based on preferences) and THINK (based on styles). However they also inform the process of instruction, so a path is also indicated to reflect how teachers should accommodate PLANNING and INSTRUCTION to address these qualities.
Special Needs / Differentiated Instruction: PATH The topic of special needs in education is certainly formidable, considering the vast differences among each existing disability, the various levels of institution at which the topic permeates (including the federal government), and the overall affect it has on the process of learning and instruction. Not to be left out are the gifted students, who currently receive very little attention from the field of education. However I find that integrating this immeasurable topic into my framework is rather simple, considering that all areas of special needs stem from the abilities of the students. From this point, all activities regarding the student unfold as a process which, although affected by many outside influences such as funding, staffing, and home life, ultimately results in an adaptation of PLANNING and INSTRUCTION. Materializing in the form of an IEP, this differentiated form of instruction caters to the student’s LEARNING SKILLS and development of CONTENT KNOWLEDGE. I include differentiated instruction in this category because it is a concept that follows the same basic principle of catering to learner’s needs.
Graduated Difficulty: PATH Graduated Difficulty is an interesting approach to identifying gifted students as well as targeting all students’ ZPDs. After instruction, the teacher offers multiple options of practice, each with increasing difficulty levels. Before starting the practice, the class identifies what makes each level more difficult and the skills required to complete each level. The students then select a level and begin working. This practice also includes a reflection aspect during which the students reflect on their choices and their outcomes. This is an exceptional way to provide students with choice (a proven motivator) and challenge (a proven skill-builder). This is an instructional strategy, and as such appears as a path from PLANNING to INSTRUCTION to LEARNING SKILLS to CONTENT KNOWLEDGE. A good teacher will also use the information provided by the students (level selection and output) to inform the teaching process, so the path returns to PLANNING, where the process begins again.
Most Difficult First: PATH As with the Graduated Difficulty approach, this teaching strategy helps identify gifted students. The approach is simple: provide two options for individual practice, one being shorter yet more difficult than the other. Students who can complete the harder option without assistance have met the homework requirement and are reinforced accordingly. This strategy is also efficient in providing choice and challenge, with no extra effort on the part of the teacher. As it applies to my framework, this strategy follows the same path (and function) as that of the Graduated Difficulty strategy.
Operant Conditioning: PATH Unlike Classical Conditioning, which only considers automatic (involuntary) responses, Operant Conditioning is defined as a way of learning in which voluntary behavior is either strengthened or weakened as a result of antecedents (cueing, prompting) and/or consequences (reinforcement, punishment). Primarily applicable to the area of behavior management in the classroom, this concept may also apply to academic learning. In either case, the act of conditioning is a process that begins with a behavior (an action or an output). As such, it begins in the CONTENT KNOWLEDGE section, where content is taken to be a behavior, a skill, or a concept. Teachers then use PLANNING to address the issue and use cues, prompts, reinforcements, and punishments as INSTRUCTION to either strengthen or weaken the ‘behavior.’ The conditioning actually takes place within the LEARNING SKILLS section, as the student learns to adjust to the stimulus. The end result is, ultimately, the same behavior, but in a different range of capacity.
Shaping: PATH Shaping describes the practical combination of task analysis and operant conditioning. With this process, a teacher uses the principles of operant conditioning (cues, prompts, reinforcements, punishments) to help students learn a small step (successive approximation: see Task Analysis) of a desired behavior or output. This process is represented in the same fashion as operant conditioning, as it also begins with the ‘behavior.’
Self Management: SHADE / PATH Ultimately, this is what we as educators desire for all our students: the ability to use behavioral learning principles to change one’s own behavior, in this case, the ability to self-educate. While the various skills involved in this process must be taught, the principle of self-motivation is contained within the learner and is thus represented as a function of the LEARNING SKILLS that affects CONTENT KNOWLEDGE.
Cognitive Views of Learning: SHADE Cognitive views of learning approach learning as an active mental process of acquiring, remembering, and using knowledge. This perspective attributes brain activity to all behavior; that knowledge is first learned, and then as a result, determines behavior. An important aspect of this theory is that knowledge is something that grows and is developed within the cognitive plane, not written onto a blank slate. In other words, knowledge is constructed, not acquired. Cognitive views of learning affect theories of memory and brain research. In my framework, these views are represented as an outward growing shade on the student half of the framework. This is because the cognitive theory, appropriately, applies to all levels of student cognition. As the position considers knowledge to be constructed, the shade grows.
Information Processing: PATH This theory postulates that memory functions like a computer in the taking ins, storing, and recollecting of information. Memory is further split up into three types: sensory, working, and long-term, each with a different function in the process of storing and recalling information. The entire process is controlled, however, with Executive Control, basically, our conscious ability to control what we store and recall. Within my framework, this is an entirely student-centered process. While a teacher may teach strategies to help facilitate this process, the process itself is contained within the brain. I show this as a cyclical path of storage and recollection between the internal and external areas of student cognition.
Motivation: SHADE Motivation is defined as an internal state that arouses, directs, and maintains behavior. In the context of education, motivation is one of the most important factors to consider in the planning of lessons. If students are not motivated to learn, then nothing taught will 'stick.' Fortunately there exist many strategies to engage and maintain student motivation.Types of motivation include intrinsic (motivation from within) and extrinsic (motivation created by external factors). Research has shown that intrinsic motivation is most valuable, yet is also very difficult to create in students. In my framework, motivation is illustrated as a process shade in the LEARNING SKILLS section, as self-motivation can be considered a skill that promotes learning.
Measurement: SHADE Measurement describes the type evaluation that is quantitative in nature, that is, it describes something using numbers. For example, evaluating student knowledge by representation of number of problems completed correctly qualifies as a measurement, because the data is quantitative and objective. While measurement is helpful to teachers when collecting class data and comparing students’ progress, it does not allow for more subjective means of evaluation, such as student effort, discussions, or essays. It is represented as a shade in the LEARNING SKILLS and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE areas because these are what are being measured.
Assessment: PATH Assessment describes a much broader process of gathering student information than measurement. It includes many different ways to obtain samples and observations of student abilities. The two main types of assessment are formative and summative, with the former existing as a pre- and during-instruction means of assessing where students are at, and the latter consisting as a sort of cumulative final measurement of what they’ve learned. Since assessment is often meant to inform the PLANNING and INSTRUCTION areas of education, it manifests as a path from LEARNING SKILLS and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE to PLANNING and INSTRUCTION.
Authentic Assessment: PATH This type of assessment asks student to apply what they’ve learned to practical situations that occur in real-life. Though somewhat unrealistic, it is my opinion that most assessment should be as close to this type as possible, because if it is our job to prepare students for the real world, then we should be consistently assessing their abilities within such contexts. In my framework, this is represented the same way as Assessment—a path from LEARNING SKILLS and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE to PLANNING and INSTRUCTION.
Standardized Testing: SHADE / PATH Unfortunately, this measurement type serves as the backbone of educational institutions around the country, including the governmental agencies responsible for monitoring these institutions. Standardized testing attempts to objectively measure students’ knowledge and skills using standard criterions for large and diverse populations. The inherent problem with this is that education is an inherently subjective institution, with diverse teachers teaching diverse students, so a wholly objective test is impractical to assess a subjective process. However, standardized testing is the best we have at the moment, so it remains an important aspect of today’s education. As a means of measurement, it embodies the same shade as measurement, and follows the same path as assessment.
Grades & Motivation: SHADE A consistent source of debate among educators, the true function of the grade remains to be identified. Should it reflect only content knowledge? Should it include learning skills such as organization, attentiveness, etc? What about as a way to control behavior—using points to affect the grades based on student behavior in the classroom? Arguments on both sides are based on logical and valid perspectives, which have not brought resolve to the debate. In my opinion, I believe the entire system to be falsely representative. As teachers, we are educating not only content knowledge, but learning skills and behavioral traits that are characteristic of “successful” citizens. Thus the grade should represent all of these traits, yet they are not designed to. But for the system that is in place, I represent as a shade within the CONTENT KNOWLEDGE section, as this seems to be what the letter grade was designed to measure.
ReferencesWoolfolk, A. (2010). Educational psychology (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.
Education is the means by which society makes progress towards a better standard of living. As such, my role as a teacher is bilateral. First, it is my job to facilitate cognitive growth in my students so that they may come to realize their full potential. Second, I must inspire my students to a point where they re self-motivated enough to act on their potential. These qualities serve also as the goals that I have for each of my students, and I believe that every student is capable of reaching these goals—provided that I utilize my resources (knowledge, skills, experience, etc.) effectively.
Concerning the effectiveness of teachers, it is the level of dedication to student learning that underlies all other qualities and competencies. No amount of pedagogical skills, content knowledge, or amicable personality traits can compensate for a lack of commitment to the students as individuals, yet a teacher who is sincerely dedicated to student learning will, of their own motivation, strive to utilize the full potential of their own resources.
Framework
My framework focuses on the process of thinking, with the fundamental view that thinking and learning how to think more efficiently serve as the foundation of all education. I split this foundation in half to reflect the activities of the student and teacher. This divide is NOT intended to separate teachers students in the process of learning, but simply to distinguish responsibilities and roles in education. In fact, the center section "THINK" should be filled with many connections between the top and bottom subsections, indicating how teachers and students interact to promote meaningful cognitive development. For each of these sides I have delegated the two most integral responsibilities for each respectively. Educational tools including strategies, theories, materials, etc should fall in either or both of the teacher subsections, while student activity such as target goals, motivation, and thinking strategies should (theoretically) fall in either or both of the top subsections.
Educational Constructs
The following terms include theories, practices, strategies, and concepts of education that fit within my educational framework. Click on the title for a graphic depiction of the construct (opens a new window).
Types of Thinking (literal, interpretive, creative): SHADE
The three types of thinking (literal, interpretive, creative) shade the overlap of THINK, LEARNING SKILLS, and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE portion of my framework. As these traits involve the actual thinking process, they affect each aspect of the learner’s cognitive development, acting as information gateways.
Intellectual Stamina (attention control, power thinking, responsibility framework, goal setting): PATH / SHADE
Intellectual Stamina is located within the LEARNING SKILLS portion of my framework because the subcategories of this concept are in and of themselves skills that help students learn. These skills must be identified and consciously employed in order for them to function, so it starts as a path from INSTRUCTION to LEARNING SKILLS, where it then changes into a shade between LEARNING SKILLS and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE.
Assimilation/Accommodation: SHADE
Piaget’s theory of Adaptation posits that learners assimilate new information into existing schemes, or they accommodate by changing their existing schemes to fit new data. These two features of cognitive development fit within the overlap of THINK and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE, where they function as active processes by which learners categorize information.
Quantitative/Qualitative Research: PATH
The roles of qualitative research (case studies, ethnography, participant observation) and quantitative research (correlation studies, experimental studies, etc.) in education are of a unique and critical nature. While the validity and relevance of each method are hotly debated, they are found to be equals within my framework, as they follow the same path. Educational research, whether qualitative or quantitative in nature, serve to analyze cognitive development by studying the developmental process. Therefore, the path starts in the LEARNING SKILLS portion, moves through the PLANNING portion, then through the INSTRUCTION portion and finally back to where it started.
Brain Research: PATH
Brain research, which focuses on studying the physiological features of the brain and their implications on cognitive development, follows the same path as most other educational research in my framework. This specific type of research begins in the THINK portion, just outside the LEARNING SKILLS border, and travels into the PLANNING portion. Here, the research is analyzed and “turned” into theories, which affect INSTRUCTION and finally LEARNING SKILLS and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE.
Triune Brain Theory (Reptilian Complex/Limbic System/Neocortex): SHADE
The Triune Brain Theory attempts to describe how the brain functions in a multilayered system of operations, and as such it exists as a shade in my framework, with the three layers affecting different portions. The Reptilian Complex, as base-level operation of thought, occupies the THINK portion, outside from tangible learning. The Limbic System and Neocortex do in fact permeate the boundaries of cognitive development, and as such they shade both the portions of LEARNING SKILLS and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE.
Piaget’s Stages of Development: SHADE
Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development outline various skill sets that age-level children are commonly capable of attaining. Because this categorical theory applies specifically to the development in cognitive abilities, this appears as a shade within the LEARNING SKILLS/THINK portion. One might think that the progressive nature of the stages would warrant a path, but it is important to remember that skills acquired in a prior stage are maintained throughout the development process, thus a shade. If it helps, the shade may be thought of as expanding from a smaller focal point within the LEARNING SKILLS/THINK portion that grows to occupy the entire portion.
Vygotsky’s ZPD: SHADE
The Zone of Proximal (Potential) Development is quite pervasive as it applies to my framework. Aspects of planning, instruction, learning skills, and content knowledge all function within this theory, leading me to depict it as a shade. Although there are many processes at work within this construct, I feel that the nature of the “zone” is more weighty. Therefore, I fit the ZPD as a shade that penetrates deep within the learner’s portions—to the very edge of their capabilities, as well into the educator’s end—reflecting the strategies and planning that is behind effective ZPD instruction.
Socially Constructed Meaning: REFORMATION / SHADE
So far all of the concepts have dealt with the individual learner or the relationship between the learner and the educator. This concept brings into play a third player in the learning process: student partners/groups. This type of learning requires an expanded view of my framework. If we think of my original framework as that of a single learner, then the graphic depiction of socially constructed meaning would be a coupling of two or more of these icons at the learner ends. And since socially constructed meaning involves mutual creation of a ZPD, the ZPD shade from above would be applied in such a manner that it encompassed all learners involved.
Scaffolding: PATH
Scaffolding is defined simply as support for learning and problem solving. Often integrated into other concepts such as the ZPD and Bloom’s Taxonomy, this model of teacher assistance covers a wide range of supports that serve to increase independence in a learner. These supports can be verbal cues, critical questions, models, or any sort of direct interaction in which the teacher assists a student in progressing to the next level of ability. Scaffolding can also take place in planning, wherein a lesson addresses key activities and skills that help students achieve the learning objectives. The key to implementing appropriate scaffolding is recognizing what level a student is at and determining what kind of support he or she needs to progress. Since this represents a process of student achievement and teacher responsiveness, this concept is illustrated as a path. And since the process is cyclical (ability informs planning and instruction, which affects ability), the path continues through all four sections of the framework (I start it in CONTENT KNOWLEDGE because that's usually what initiates the process).
New American Lecture: SHADE
This describes a learning strategy in which students fill out a graphic organizer during the lecture. The benefits to this approach are twofold. First, this manner of writing down information in a personal way allows students to actively create meaning from the input provided by the teacher. Instead of copying down notes verbatim, students are free to transcribe concepts in a manner that makes sense to them. Second, the simultaneous act of writing while listening keeps learners involved in the lecture, rather than tuning out or relying on handout memorization. As a learning strategy, this concept involves both function and process. It functions within both subsections of the teacher roles, PLANNING and INSTRUCTION, as a method of instruction. It also functions within both student roles, LEARNING SKILLS and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE, as a learning strategy. The process, however, merely involves the transfer of information, so for the purposes of this model, I leave out the path that would indicate this transfer.
Memory Flashing: SHADE
Closely tied with the New American Lecture, this learning strategy also involves the creation of a graphic organizer. After the organizer is created, the student is responsible for 1) explaining it to a fellow student, and 2) recreating it without referring to it. The process is repeated using the 1-1-1-1 method (after one hour, one day, one week, and one month). This strategy has been shown to promote long-term memory and understanding of information. As a learning strategy, this concept manifests a shade on my framework between LEARNING SKILLS and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE, as it affects both subsections of student learning.
Task Analysis: PATH
Task Analysis describes a teaching process in which a skill is broken down into sub-skills, or steps that are hierarchal in order of attaining the overall skill (also known as successive approximations). This is especially effective with students who struggle with individual skills or concepts, and theoretically speaking it forms the basic structure of education. Grade levels, for instance, are hierarchal steps in the process of achieving a high school diploma. Its most common application, however, is contained within the classroom. As this process begins with the breaking down of some academic concept or behavioral skill, the path begins in the PLANNING section (not to be confused with shaping, which begins with the behavior: see Shaping). From there it proceeds through INSTRUCTION to LEARNING SKILLS and finally ends with achievement of the skill in the CONTENT KNOWLEDGE section (In the case of a behavioral skill, content is taken to be considered as the desired behavior).
Theories of Intelligence: SHADE
Intelligence theories such as those of Charles Spearman (general intelligence g), John Carroll (three-level intelligence), and Howard Gardner (multiple intelligences), to name a few, offer many insights and advantages to the teaching process. With these theories, teachers can expand their perspectives on what defines knowledge, skills, and abilities, and can adjust their instruction accordingly. However, since the theories themselves only apply to individual cognitive processes, the graphic depiction in my framework is limited to the student end. Here the theories shade in the small portion that involves THINK, LEARNING SKILLS, and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE, since many of the theories include all three aspects of learner cognition.
Theories of Learning Styles / Preferences: SHADE / PATH
Taking into account the various strategies for instruction that populate educational resource texts, there seem to exist even more theories of learning styles and preferences than theories of intelligences. These theories outline the various ways and conditions under which a learner learns best (styles referring to the way a learner thinks, preferences taken to mean the way a learner likes to be taught). The styles can be split into categories of cognitive-centered, personality-centered, activity-centered, all of which take into account a different affect of learning. Preferences are conveniently categorized into three types by Zhang and Sternberg (2005): Type I, which describes learners who enjoy a liberal approach to learning, Type II, describing those who like rigidity and structure, and Type III, who pick and choose from both of the former. These styles and preferences are learner qualities and as such they shade my framework in the learner sections of LEARNING SKILLS (based on preferences) and THINK (based on styles). However they also inform the process of instruction, so a path is also indicated to reflect how teachers should accommodate PLANNING and INSTRUCTION to address these qualities.
Special Needs / Differentiated Instruction: PATH
The topic of special needs in education is certainly formidable, considering the vast differences among each existing disability, the various levels of institution at which the topic permeates (including the federal government), and the overall affect it has on the process of learning and instruction. Not to be left out are the gifted students, who currently receive very little attention from the field of education. However I find that integrating this immeasurable topic into my framework is rather simple, considering that all areas of special needs stem from the abilities of the students. From this point, all activities regarding the student unfold as a process which, although affected by many outside influences such as funding, staffing, and home life, ultimately results in an adaptation of PLANNING and INSTRUCTION. Materializing in the form of an IEP, this differentiated form of instruction caters to the student’s LEARNING SKILLS and development of CONTENT KNOWLEDGE. I include differentiated instruction in this category because it is a concept that follows the same basic principle of catering to learner’s needs.
Graduated Difficulty: PATH
Graduated Difficulty is an interesting approach to identifying gifted students as well as targeting all students’ ZPDs. After instruction, the teacher offers multiple options of practice, each with increasing difficulty levels. Before starting the practice, the class identifies what makes each level more difficult and the skills required to complete each level. The students then select a level and begin working. This practice also includes a reflection aspect during which the students reflect on their choices and their outcomes. This is an exceptional way to provide students with choice (a proven motivator) and challenge (a proven skill-builder). This is an instructional strategy, and as such appears as a path from PLANNING to INSTRUCTION to LEARNING SKILLS to CONTENT KNOWLEDGE. A good teacher will also use the information provided by the students (level selection and output) to inform the teaching process, so the path returns to PLANNING, where the process begins again.
Most Difficult First: PATH
As with the Graduated Difficulty approach, this teaching strategy helps identify gifted students. The approach is simple: provide two options for individual practice, one being shorter yet more difficult than the other. Students who can complete the harder option without assistance have met the homework requirement and are reinforced accordingly. This strategy is also efficient in providing choice and challenge, with no extra effort on the part of the teacher. As it applies to my framework, this strategy follows the same path (and function) as that of the Graduated Difficulty strategy.
Operant Conditioning: PATH
Unlike Classical Conditioning, which only considers automatic (involuntary) responses, Operant Conditioning is defined as a way of learning in which voluntary behavior is either strengthened or weakened as a result of antecedents (cueing, prompting) and/or consequences (reinforcement, punishment). Primarily applicable to the area of behavior management in the classroom, this concept may also apply to academic learning. In either case, the act of conditioning is a process that begins with a behavior (an action or an output). As such, it begins in the CONTENT KNOWLEDGE section, where content is taken to be a behavior, a skill, or a concept. Teachers then use PLANNING to address the issue and use cues, prompts, reinforcements, and punishments as INSTRUCTION to either strengthen or weaken the ‘behavior.’ The conditioning actually takes place within the LEARNING SKILLS section, as the student learns to adjust to the stimulus. The end result is, ultimately, the same behavior, but in a different range of capacity.
Shaping: PATH
Shaping describes the practical combination of task analysis and operant conditioning. With this process, a teacher uses the principles of operant conditioning (cues, prompts, reinforcements, punishments) to help students learn a small step (successive approximation: see Task Analysis) of a desired behavior or output. This process is represented in the same fashion as operant conditioning, as it also begins with the ‘behavior.’
Self Management: SHADE / PATH
Ultimately, this is what we as educators desire for all our students: the ability to use behavioral learning principles to change one’s own behavior, in this case, the ability to self-educate. While the various skills involved in this process must be taught, the principle of self-motivation is contained within the learner and is thus represented as a function of the LEARNING SKILLS that affects CONTENT KNOWLEDGE.
Cognitive Views of Learning: SHADE
Cognitive views of learning approach learning as an active mental process of acquiring, remembering, and using knowledge. This perspective attributes brain activity to all behavior; that knowledge is first learned, and then as a result, determines behavior. An important aspect of this theory is that knowledge is something that grows and is developed within the cognitive plane, not written onto a blank slate. In other words, knowledge is constructed, not acquired. Cognitive views of learning affect theories of memory and brain research. In my framework, these views are represented as an outward growing shade on the student half of the framework. This is because the cognitive theory, appropriately, applies to all levels of student cognition. As the position considers knowledge to be constructed, the shade grows.
Information Processing: PATH
This theory postulates that memory functions like a computer in the taking ins, storing, and recollecting of information. Memory is further split up into three types: sensory, working, and long-term, each with a different function in the process of storing and recalling information. The entire process is controlled, however, with Executive Control, basically, our conscious ability to control what we store and recall. Within my framework, this is an entirely student-centered process. While a teacher may teach strategies to help facilitate this process, the process itself is contained within the brain. I show this as a cyclical path of storage and recollection between the internal and external areas of student cognition.
Motivation: SHADE
Motivation is defined as an internal state that arouses, directs, and maintains behavior. In the context of education, motivation is one of the most important factors to consider in the planning of lessons. If students are not motivated to learn, then nothing taught will 'stick.' Fortunately there exist many strategies to engage and maintain student motivation.Types of motivation include intrinsic (motivation from within) and extrinsic (motivation created by external factors). Research has shown that intrinsic motivation is most valuable, yet is also very difficult to create in students. In my framework, motivation is illustrated as a process shade in the LEARNING SKILLS section, as self-motivation can be considered a skill that promotes learning.
Measurement: SHADE
Measurement describes the type evaluation that is quantitative in nature, that is, it describes something using numbers. For example, evaluating student knowledge by representation of number of problems completed correctly qualifies as a measurement, because the data is quantitative and objective. While measurement is helpful to teachers when collecting class data and comparing students’ progress, it does not allow for more subjective means of evaluation, such as student effort, discussions, or essays. It is represented as a shade in the LEARNING SKILLS and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE areas because these are what are being measured.
Assessment: PATH
Assessment describes a much broader process of gathering student information than measurement. It includes many different ways to obtain samples and observations of student abilities. The two main types of assessment are formative and summative, with the former existing as a pre- and during-instruction means of assessing where students are at, and the latter consisting as a sort of cumulative final measurement of what they’ve learned. Since assessment is often meant to inform the PLANNING and INSTRUCTION areas of education, it manifests as a path from LEARNING SKILLS and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE to PLANNING and INSTRUCTION.
Authentic Assessment: PATH
This type of assessment asks student to apply what they’ve learned to practical situations that occur in real-life. Though somewhat unrealistic, it is my opinion that most assessment should be as close to this type as possible, because if it is our job to prepare students for the real world, then we should be consistently assessing their abilities within such contexts. In my framework, this is represented the same way as Assessment—a path from LEARNING SKILLS and CONTENT KNOWLEDGE to PLANNING and INSTRUCTION.
Standardized Testing: SHADE / PATH
Unfortunately, this measurement type serves as the backbone of educational institutions around the country, including the governmental agencies responsible for monitoring these institutions. Standardized testing attempts to objectively measure students’ knowledge and skills using standard criterions for large and diverse populations. The inherent problem with this is that education is an inherently subjective institution, with diverse teachers teaching diverse students, so a wholly objective test is impractical to assess a subjective process. However, standardized testing is the best we have at the moment, so it remains an important aspect of today’s education. As a means of measurement, it embodies the same shade as measurement, and follows the same path as assessment.
Grades & Motivation: SHADE
A consistent source of debate among educators, the true function of the grade remains to be identified. Should it reflect only content knowledge? Should it include learning skills such as organization, attentiveness, etc? What about as a way to control behavior—using points to affect the grades based on student behavior in the classroom? Arguments on both sides are based on logical and valid perspectives, which have not brought resolve to the debate. In my opinion, I believe the entire system to be falsely representative. As teachers, we are educating not only content knowledge, but learning skills and behavioral traits that are characteristic of “successful” citizens. Thus the grade should represent all of these traits, yet they are not designed to. But for the system that is in place, I represent as a shade within the CONTENT KNOWLEDGE section, as this seems to be what the letter grade was designed to measure.
ReferencesWoolfolk, A. (2010). Educational psychology (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.